The invention relates to a goods holder.
A goods holder, for example in the form of a rack hook, permits the arrangement of several goods arranged movably one behind the other, for example in a retail business, in order to present the goods in an attractive manner and to keep them ready for a customer to remove easily. The individual goods are movably arranged on the goods holder, for example hung thereon, wherein a front good of a row of goods arranged one behind the other is movable in the direction of a front end of the goods holder and can be removed from the goods holder at this front end of the latter.
For theft prevention and for stock monitoring, it is already known to provide such goods holders with electronics, via which a removal of a good from the goods holder is detectable. For example, a displaceably mounted signal-producing means can be provided in a goods holder, which means is displaceable when a frontmost good is displaced in the direction of the front end and, during a displacement, triggers the production of a removal signal, via which a removal of the goods is then displayed by the goods holder. Such a signal-producing means can be implemented, for example, in the form of a pivotably mounted swinging arm. Via such a swinging arm, it is also possible to achieve the situation where only ever a single good but not several goods can be removed simultaneously from the goods holder. Such a solution is known, for example from WO 2006/061009 A1.
With such a goods holder, it is for example easily possible to draw conclusions about an atypical removal pattern and therefore a potential attempt at theft, by using removal signals that are produced. With regard to stock or level monitoring, however, it is regularly disadvantageous that a statement about the current level, i.e. the goods kept ready on the goods holder, is not possible merely on the basis of the removal signals. For example, a removal signal is also produced when a good previously removed by a customer is arranged on the goods holder again or is topped up by the staff. If such a goods holder is also set up to acknowledge each removal of a good acoustically by means of a swinging arm, the return of a good by a customer or the filling of the goods holder with new goods by the sales staff also produces acoustic feedback. This is likewise felt to be disadvantageous.
In a goods holder known from WO 2010/094778 A1, in order to solve this problem it is proposed to monitor the displacement movement of a goods feed, by means of which goods arranged on the goods holder are urged in the direction of a front end of the goods holder. Here, via contacts provided on a circuit board, in the event of a displacement of the feed, sequences of displacement signals that are distinguishable from one another are produced, depending on whether the goods feed is displaced in the direction of the front end or in the displacement direction opposite thereto. Although this solution is extremely effective and expedient, it always assumes the use of a feed unit and is therefore not suitable for all applications with regard to size and costs.